Elation, American DJ, Acclaim Shine at Glass Lounge

DALLAS, TX – (For Immediate Release) -- The name says it all. Glass Lounge was a landmark attraction in Uptown Dallas before it even opened, thanks to a stunning glassed-in atrium that changes colors top to bottom, which stretches across the entire left one-third of the building. “We had the lights programmed, and people off the street would just keep coming to the door, two weeks before it opened. They were drawn by the colors shining through the glass atrium,” said Ariél Hunter of Platinum Pro Lighting, who did the club's complete lighting design, installation and programming.

On the inside, this upscale 6,000 sq. ft. venue lays claim to the “longest bar in Dallas,” a 55-foot structure with a front made of (what else) glass, which is part of a cocktail lounge that comprises another one-third of the space. The remaining third is a flashy DJ/dance area with a serpentine-like S-shaped truss structure overhead and two massive “eyes” peering out from the far wall. Behind the wall is the Ladies Room, where the theme continues with a sheet of one-way (thankfully!) glass that provides female patrons with a clear view of the dance floor as they take care of business. There's also an outdoor rooftop area called Revive, accessible by ramp from the main club, with three glassy reflection pools, its own DJ booth, and 17 private cabanas.

When Hunter first became involved in the project, the building's lighting was “a blank canvas.” “I was able to completely design it,” he says. A former live production lighting designer, he carried out the vision for Glass, indoors and out, using products from American DJ, Elation Professional and Acclaim Lighting.

The color effects in the glass atrium were created with 15 x American DJ Mega Tri Bar 1-meter LED bars installed around the sofitt edge, positioned so they would wash all the way down draperies that Hunter had specially ordered for the room. Each Mega Tri Bar contains 18 x 3-watt RGB LEDs that feature Tri-Color technology, which combines red, green and blue into each LED source, for smoother, more even color mixing. “The Mega Tri Bar's capabilities compared to its cost are unbelievable!” Hunter commented. “The actual lumen output you get from these tri-color LEDs is awesome. The fact that you can run it over 54 channels, which allows you to control each and every diode on the stick individually, makes it a true professional-grade product. American DJ has definitely jumped up the quality on some of their equipment to the professional level.”

Glass and color-changing LEDs were also the inspiration for the bar/cocktail area, where the 55-foot bar's glass faÃ§ade was lit up with strips of Elation Flex RGB Tape, a thin, flexible LED circuit strip with 3 SMD LEDs every 2 inches. Hunter mounted the tape length-wise along the top and bottom of the channel where the glass pieces fit, using a total of about 120', to give the bar a glowing effect.

It was also Hunter's idea to illuminate the cube-shaped tables in the lounge to show off their distinctive frosted glass tops. “The cubes were there already, but I was like, â€˜You need to light these up,'” said Hunter. This was done with an Elation ELAR EX Tri Par unit built into the ground underneath each cube to illuminate it from below. The EX Tri Par is an LED par with 15 x 3-watt TRI-Color RGB LEDs and a 25° beam angle. “I didn't want any hot spots, so the units had to be pretty low,” explained Hunter. “The EX Tri Pars worked out the best because of their beam angle.”

Rounding out the lighting in Glass's cocktail lounge are two Alkalite Riva 80 LED lighting systems from Elation, which are mounted along the top of the bar. Each Riva 80 system includes 8 large recessed pods with a proprietary Pixel Drive X controller. “What's nice about the Riva is that it's system based, so it's very easy to install. All I had to do was extend the cables they came with,” Hunter said.

Along with Glass's glass atrium and “endless” bar, one of its most distinctive conversation pieces is the serpentine truss structure hanging overhead the DJ/dance area. Hunter created the snake-like piece with circle truss from American DJ/Elation's sister company Global Truss. “I broke the truss into four 90° segments and then made it into an â€˜S,'” he explained. The trussing, which gives definition to the dance floor, holds an American DJ Nucleus Pro and two American DJ Tripleflex LED centerpiece effects -- chosen for their punch versus relatively small size. “The owner kept stressing that Glass is not a club but a lounge, so the dance area is pretty small. The low ceiling height limited me from putting in a full-size moving head, but the Nucleus Pro and Tripleflex have worked out very well. They're mirror-based, so I can get a lot of movement. And because they're LEDs, I don't have a power consumption issue to run down that truss.” On the far wall of the dance floor, Glass's legendary “eyes” peer out at the crowd, created by shining two Elation Opti RGB LED pars onto the one-way glass wall in front of the Ladies Room.

American DJ and Elation products were also used up on the roof in Revive, along with outdoor architectural lights from another sister company, Acclaim Lighting. Revive's three 2-foot deep interconnected reflection pools are surrounded by 30 Acclaim Inground Lites, an IP67-rated outdoor stainless steel RGB unit designed for ingrade lighting applications. Two Elation Design Spot LED moving heads are positioned overhead, giving coverage across the pools with gobos and rotation -- “literally â€˜dancing' in the water,” said Hunter. The 17 poolside cabanas are illuminated with American DJ's Flat Par Tri18 low-profile RGB Tri-LED Par can.

If Glass generated impressive buzz while it was still in the works, the feedback that has come since the venue opened has been nothing short of astounding to Hunter, who moved to Dallas in early 2011 to start a pro lighting division of Platinum. “When it comes to lighting, there's no place in Dallas that touches it, as far as the design, look and programming,” he said. “But truthfully even I didn't expect as much feedback as we've gotten. Not only from the public, but other club owners have contacted me directly.”